BREAKING: California announces NEW LEGAL ACTION against Trump

I'm joined now by the attorney general. of California, Rob Bont. Thank you so. much for taking the time. Thanks for. having me. Great to be with you. So, we. have some breaking news here as it. relates to Donald Trump's deployment of. not just 2,00 uh National Guard, but an. additional 2,000 National Guard and then. 700 Marines. And so, can you um can you. explain what that new news is? Yes. Today, we are filing a temporary. restraining order request with the. federal judge in the Northern District. of California as part of our case that. we brought yesterday. Uh we argue in our. case that the president does not have.

any legal basis for uh deploying the uh. National Guard uh or the Marines um into. LA. And today we are asking that the. court issue an order immediately ren uh. ordering that the um deployment be. invalid and unlawful and blocking uh. their deployment into Los Angeles. Okay. So, if this temporary restraining order. is granted, how how quickly um could it. go into effect?

By design, temporary restraining order. requests are ruled on swiftly uh because. of the potential for irreversible and. irreparable harm and injury uh to the. requesting entity here, the state of. California. So, we could get a ruling. within hours as we have in some of our. other cases when we've sued the Trump. administration, or it could be a matter. of days, but it will be swift. Uh we. should get an order by the end of this. week. Is there any way that Trump could. justify his actions given the fact that. the law clearly states that the governor. um has to be consulted before the. National Guard is sent in? And of.

course, in this instance, he wasn't. I. don't see it. That part in particular is. absolutely clear as day in our favor on. the merits. The statute, as you say, uh. that the president relies on for his. executive order bringing in the National. Guards people uh says that the uh. governor needs to be consulted. um he. needs to there needs to be the. governor's consent. Not only did. Governor Nuome not consent, he. strenuously objected to the deployment. of the National Guard into Los Angeles.

and has said that repeatedly. Um the. statute that the president relies on. also requires a rebellion to be present. which there's not a um invasion to be. present which there's not or the. inability of the um United States of. America to um enforce uh and execute the. laws uh with their regular forces and. that doesn't exist either. So that the. clear unambiguous language of the. statute, the elements that are required. to be there for the president to be able. to lawfully rely on that statute are not.

present. And so we believe this is not a. close case and that the court uh will. find in our favor and should uh and we. believe will issue a temporary. restraining order. Well, some of the. verbiage that's used in that statute is. rebellion or invasion. And obviously in. an effort to reverse engineer the. ability for the administration to do. this to justify their actions, they've. already been coming out, you know, for. weeks and claiming that there is an. invasion. There is a rebellion. And so. given that the language is so.

subjective, does that pose any issue. that that Trump can just say, "Yes, there is an invasion. Yes, there is a. rebellion. That's why we had to do. this." It's clear what they're trying to. do. They are trying to manipulate and. and twist the language. um giving it. their own definitions and calling things. that aren't invasions invasions, calling. things that um uh are not rebellions, rebellions, calling things that are not. emergencies emergencies because they. know that those are the words that are. in the statute. So, they're trying to uh. appropriate that language and hopefully.

get what is what their true goal is, uh. which is the power that comes when there. actually is a rebellion or an emergency. or an invasion. But it doesn't matter. what they call it. It matters what it. is. They can't change the facts just by. giving it a different name. And you. know, we are seeing mostly peaceful. protests with some uh accompanying acts. of of violence which unfortunately often. comes when opportunists and agitators. take advantage of the situation for. their own goals and those people must be. held accountable. But this is garden.

variety. um you know common vandalism. and property that we've seen many times. that the largest sheriff's department in. the nation, the LA Sheriff's Department. and the third largest police department. in the nation, the LAPD are well. equipped to handle and have handled. And. um they have the opportunity to get. mutual aid if needed as well. And by the. time the National Guard came to LA on. Sunday morning, they were met with quiet. streets. um no emergency, no rebellion,

no invasion, um no uncontrolled. violence. And so um I think that puts. the lie to the terms that the president. is using when they try to use invasion. and rebellion inappropriately. What. would it look like if the temporary. restraining order, the TTRO, is actually. granted? What are next steps? What are. the mechanics of this thing? If a judge. does rule that the deployment of these, you know, 2,000 National Guard troops. plus an additional 2,000 plus, you know, these hundreds of Marines um is actually. illegal.

It it'll depend on what the scope of the. court order is, but generally if we uh. are successful in getting our request. for a temporary restraining order. granted, the court would render the. deployment of the 4,000 National Guards. people and the 700 Marines unlawful and. invalid, and they would need to be uh. either redeployed uh to other locations. where they're doing uh lawful where they. have a lawful mission uh or they uh.

would be restricted. from doing uh law. enforcement activity in uh civilian. locations uh in Los Angeles and. California. So, it could take a number. of different forms. They could be. redeployed. They could be heavily. restricted in in their role, but either. way, they would be prevented from doing. what Donald Trump wants them to do. We've also seen that uh the the National. Guard that have been sent into. California, the conditions are are. subpar. There's a lot of photos floating. around the internet um including ones. that were shared by Governor Nuomo. himself that show uh that they're.

sleeping on the floor because because. you know there there wasn't preparations. taken to actually uh uh make sure that. they have the proper accommodations. So. can I have your reaction to the fact. that this was all so this all feels so. thrown together that even these folks. who were sent in um aren't aren't being. taken care of on their end? My reaction is it's embarrassing. It's. disrespectful and it's insulting to the. men and women of the California National. Guard who are patriots, who are.

servants, who have a critical role, who. do don't deserve to be treated as. political pawns uh for uh the delight. and pleasure of the president. Um who. deserve respect and deserve to be able. to f fulfill a mission that advances um. safety and security and um promotes. California. Many of the National Guards. people were doing just such tasks before. they were pulled away to come to LA. unnecessarily and counterproductively. Some were on the border in San Diego.

tackling the inflow of fentinel into our. communities and making sure our. communities are sea safe from this. deadly poison. Others were tackling. wildfires uh as wildfire season um uh. continues to proceed here in California. So they were pulled away from these. important roles uh at at the bidding and. pleasure of Donald Trump to be. weaponized and to become political. pawns. And we did see them without. adequate food and water. We saw them. without adequate sleeping conditions um. sleeping on one another on the floor.

And uh that is very sad to see the. president of the United States treating. our military personnel in that way. They. deserve better. They deserve greater. respect and greater dignity. Speaking of. the politicization of of all of this, we've seen this talking point being. floated um by folks in right-wing media, by Trump's borders are Tom Hman, this. idea that uh arrest was on the table. even for folks like Gavin Newsome and. Karen Bass. And so can I have your. reaction to to that the the fact that. this is now in the zeitgeist? the the.

prospect of Trump uh um having his. political opponents arrested that even. lead this state and uh and this city. In one way, it's more silly, toxic, tough talk, bluster, and and bluffing. and threatening and bullying. It's sort. of uh their brand, what they're known. for. Yeah. Big talk, uh overpromising, underdelivering. Um. and and so is and certainly without.

merit, but I also say it's very. dangerous. Uh the the president was. asked what's the crime that Governor. Nuome committed and he said running for. governor, which is obviously completely. lawful, not a crime. Um and uh what is. happening here is that the president of. the greatest nation on earth is. threatening to arrest a political. opponent who has done nothing wrong but. uh disagree with him. um and uh to to. weaponize um uh the the politics to to.

harm a political opponent. And that is. wrong. That is not who we are. That is. the antithesis of who we are. It's. undemocratic. It's unamerican. So it it. is reckless and it is dangerous. Um. they're starting to walk back the. statement somewhat today because I think. they've been embarrassed by it. Uh but. we all know you can only arrest people. when they commit a crime. Governor Nome. has committed no crime. uh but these. threats to go after political opponents. for no reason um is is very dangerous, very reckless and very disturbing. Do. you see these kind of threats in a. different light given the fact that we.

have seen members of Congress, Democratic members of Congress, uh. judges, uh Democratic staffers, all who. actually have been arrested by this. administration? Yeah. I mean, the the. the arrest of the judge in Wisconsin. Yeah. Uh the mayor of Newark, Congress. member in New Jersey, um a labor leader. in California. Jerry Jerry Nadler's staffer in New. York. The list goes on. And so, you. know, they're looking for that. They're. loving the opportunity to um overreact. and uh over arrest and overcharge. Um.

they want to go after their political. opponents. And I think Trump's statement. just made it very transparent and clear. that they don't even need a lawful. reason uh to act uh and they're willing. to arrest folks uh when there's no crime. committed. And that is very dangerous. and disturbing. This is a bit of a. political question that I'm hoping you. can opine on a little bit, but you know, prior to ICE being sent in in the first. place, everything was peaceful. And so. to what extent do you think that this. was manufactured, that this was.

engineered by Trump to, for example, take the attention away from what was a. really politically damaging week for him. with the fallout with Elon Musk, uh the. the the tenuous path uh forward for his. budget bill, a bill that, by the way, would strip healthcare away from 14. million Americans, cut food assistance. to the tune of $300 billion, that would. blow up the deficits to the tune of. trillions of dollars. And so there was a. lot of negative political coverage on. him only until the point where he can. figure out a way to get something else. into the zeitgeist by sending ICE in. Um.

and then of course kind of engineering. the uprising that we're seeing right now. um as some justification for him to then. send troops in and send thousands more. troops in, then send the Marines in. And. so to what extent do you think that this. was all a purposeful strategy to. distract? it seems a classic distraction. deflection from harmful um coverage that. uh a political leader uh was receiving. Um the uh you know the the the big ugly.

bill is very problematic and I I know he. wants less analysis and scrutiny on. that. Uh his divorce with Elon Musk also. messy and ugly and he certainly wants. people to think about other things. So, um, you know, to to the fact that that. this is California and not just. California, but Los Angeles, an iconic. California city in a blue state that. absolutely rejected um Donald Trump in. the last election. He was thrashed and. destroyed. He It's embarrassing to him.

His ego can't handle it. And he has made. clear that he will target and go after. blue states as part of his political. vindication and his political vengeance. tour. And so this has multiple u I think. uh benefits from his for his political. agenda. It distracted and um deflected. from bad news coverage and gave him an. opportunity to try to uh beat up on a a. blue state which he sees as an enemy. instead of being a president for all of. America, including all of the 40 million. people in the great state of California.

Um but he's done it unlawfully. Um he's. picked a fight um that he he can't win. I think the courts will um slap him down. immediately as he deserved to be. Yet. again, we've brought 25 lawsuits in 20. weeks because that's how blatantly and. brazenly and consistently and frequently. the president has violated the law. This. is another blatant violation of the law. and we believe the court will hold him. accountable and block his unlawful. activity. And finally, let's finish off. with this. Uh I'd mentioned in my. previous question about the fact that. this all was kind of incited because of.

ICE coming in. Um, you know, California. is a majority minority city. Uh, immigrant communities, migrant. communities are a major part of the. tapestry of of Los Angeles. And so, what. is your message to folks out there? Um, for whom fear has been stricken in their. hearts at the prospect of them being. taken away. Uh, and these aren't just, you know, I'm not talking about the. hardened criminals because that that. kind of talking point has come and gone. Um these are folks who who are who are. uh productive members of society. Many.

of whom are paying taxes. People who are. making sure that that you know we have. food on our tables that we have homes. that are built uh who are now afraid to. go to work or afraid to attend their. kids' graduations. Tend to afraid to. even go out into society for fear of. being kind of plucked up uh by ICE and. being deported. So what's your message. to that community um who might be. especially afraid right now? Yeah. And. to our beautifully diverse, hardworking. um California immigrants, I I say this. I I see you. I I value you. I know that.

you're fearful, anxious, worried, concerned u by President Trump's. unlawful actions and and rhetoric. And I. want you to know that in California, you. belong. Um you have rights. Um if your. rights are violated, they they must be. vindicated. And in California, u I and. our leaders value you and know that you. are such a critical part of uh who we. are, who we've become, who we will be. Uh we are a state uh of beautiful.

immigrants. My mom was an immigrant from. the Philippines. I was born in the. Philippines and brought here because my. parents wanted democracy and freedom and. due process and the rule of law for me. and uh we will do everything in our. power to defend and protect uh our. immigrants who are law-abiding and. productive, who have made California. great. Um so please know that California. has your back and we will continue to. lift up our immigrants. Attorney General. Rob Bont, thank you so much for taking. the time. Thanks for having me, Brian. Honored to be with you.